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About

Overview

Best-selling author Jackson Spielvogel has helped over one million students learn about the present by exploring the past. Spielvogel's engaging narrative weaves the political, economic, social, religious, intellectual, cultural, and military aspects of history into a gripping story that is as memorable as it is instructive. WESTERN CIVILIZATION includes 155 maps and excerpts of more than 250 primary sources that enliven the past while introducing students to the source material of historical scholarship. Additionally, the text is illustrated with 430 photographs that add visual context. A variety of pedagogical tools, including features on relevant films and end-of-chapter study aids, make this edition accessible to any learning style.
Available in the following split options: WESTERN CIVILIZATION, Ninth Edition (Chapters 1-30), ISBN: 9781285436401; Volume I: To 1715 (Chapters 1-16), ISBN: 978-1-285-43648-7; Volume II: Since 1500 (Chapters 13-30), ISBN: 978-1-285-43655-5; Volume A: To 1500 (Chapters 1-12), ISBN: 978-1-285-43658-6; Volume B: 1300 to 1815 (Chapters 11-19), ISBN: 978-1-285-43661-6; Volume C: Since 1789 (Chapters 19-30), ISBN: 978-1-285-43662-3; Alternate Volume: Since 1300 (Chapters 11-30), ISBN: 978-1-285-43668-5.

Features and Benefits

“Images of Everyday Life” features, which combine two or more illustrations with a lengthy caption to provide insight into different aspects of social life, can be found in eighteen chapters. New topics include “Family and Marriage in Renaissance Italy” (Ch. 12), and Women and the Salon” (Ch. 17).

“Film and History” features, which present a brief analysis of a film's plot as well as the historical significance, value, and accuracy, appear in eighteen chapters. Featured films include “Amadeus” (Ch. 17).

The text offers global perspectives and connections. Examples include: discussion on the spread of the plague through China, the Middle East, and Europe (Ch. 11); and an “Images of Everyday Life” feature on Spices and World Trade (Ch. 14).

Spielvogel provides a focused, consistent narrative throughout the text. The author is an award-winning teacher and scholar whose clear, lively, and informative writing style has made this text so successful with students. Numerous testimonials state that a primary reason professors use this text is because their students can read and understand it at schools that range from Ivy League universities to two-year technical colleges.

Primary documents-letters, memoirs, song lyrics, official documents, diary entries, menus, poetry, plays, and the like-give students access to the kinds of materials historians use to create their interpretations of the past. Students encounter such varied sources as a Renaissance banquet menu, a student fight song in nineteenth-century Britain, letters exchanged between a woman and her fiancé in World War I, and a debate in the Reformation era. All these sources reveal in vivid fashion what Western civilization meant to the individual men and women who shaped it.

Maps are interspersed throughout the text, including an average of three “spot maps” in each chapter. These resources provide critical details on smaller areas not apparent in the larger maps. All maps include captions and map questions to encourage readers to make connections across eras, regions, and concepts.

Table of Contents

11. The Later Middle Ages: Crisis and Disintegration in the Fourteenth Century.12. Recovery and Rebirth: The Age of the Renaissance.13. Reformation and Religious Warfare in the Sixteenth Century.14. Europe and The World: New Encounters, 1500–1800. 15. State Building and the Search for Order in the Seventeenth Century. 16. Toward a New Heaven and a New Earth: The Scientific Revolution and the Emergence of Modern Science. 17. The Eighteenth Century: An Age of Enlightenment. 18. The Eighteenth Century: European States, International Wars, and Social Change. 19. A Revolution in Politics: The Era of The French Revolution and Napoleon.

What's New

New “Connections to Today” questions at the beginning of chapters help students appreciate the relevance of history by asking them to draw connections between the past and present.

New historiographical subsections briefly examine how and why historians differ in their interpretation of specific topics. Examples include: “Was There a Renaissance for Women?” (Ch. 12); and “Was There an Agricultural Revolution?” (Ch. 18).

New primary source excerpts are included in document boxes and in “Opposing Viewpoints” features. New examples include: “A Liberated Woman in the Fourteenth Century” (Ch. 11); and “The Impact of Agricultural Changes” (Ch. 18).

New and revised coverage of gender history includes new material on a historiographical subsection, “Was There a Renaissance for Women?” (Ch. 12); a document, “Margaret Cavendish: The Education of Women” (Ch. 16); an “Images of Everyday Life” feature, “Women and the Salon” (Ch. 17).

New content includes a new section, “Art and the Black Death” (Ch. 11); a new section on “Disease in the New World” and material on the West Indies (Ch. 14); material on Judith Leyster and Rembrandt (Ch. 15); material on Maria Merian and on Galileo's telescope (Ch. 16); a section on “The New Consumers” and new material on primogeniture (Ch. 18); and material on the finances of the French court and on the Treaties of Tilsit (Ch. 19).

New topics for “Images of Everyday Life” features include: “Family and Marriage in Renaissance Italy” (Ch. 12), and “Women and the Salon” (Ch. 17).

Learning Resource Bundles

Choose the textbook packaged with the resources that best meet your course and student needs.
Contact your Learning Consultant for more information.

Instructor Supplements

Aplia significantly improves outcomes and elevates thinking by increasing student effort and engagement. Developed by teachers and used by more than 1,000,000 students Aplia assignments connect concepts to the real world and focus on the unique course challenges facing students.

COURSEREADER: WESTERN CIVILIZATION is Cengage Learning’s easy, affordable way to build your own online customizable reader. Through a partnership with Gale, COURSEREADER: WESTERN CIVILIZATION searches thousands of primary and secondary sources, readings, and audio and video clips from multiple disciplines. Select exactly and only the material you want your students to work with. Each selection can be listened to (using the “Listen” button), to accommodate varied learning styles. Additionally, an instructor can choose to add her own notes to readings, to direct students’ attention or ask them questions about a particular passage. Each primary source is accompanied by an introduction, and questions to help students understand the reading. COURSEREADER: WESTERN CIVILIZATION is the perfect complement to any class.

Aplia significantly improves outcomes and elevates thinking by increasing student effort and engagement. Developed by teachers and used by more than 1,000,000 students Aplia assignments connect concepts to the real world and focus on the unique course challenges facing students.

Student Supplements

One million+ students, one billion answers
In just 10 years, more than one billion answers have been submitted through Aplia, the premier online assignment solution. Millions of students use Aplia to better prepare for class and for their exams. Join them today!
Know what’s important
Aplia assignments mean “no surprises”—with an at-a-glance view of current assignments organized by due date, you always know what’s due, and when.
Discover real-world relevance
Aplia ties your lessons into real-world applications so you get a bigger, better picture of how you’ll use your education in your future workplace.
Master the content
Automatic grading and immediate step-by-step feedback helps you master content the right way the first time.
Student Testimonial:
“I was very engaged; the content in Aplia is useful. The study tools and materials in Aplia most definitely help me feel more prepared. I understood more than I would have otherwise.”
- Tia
Student, Glendale Community College
CTA: Ask your instructor about Aplia for this course.
www.cengage.com/aplia

Easy-to-use and affordable access to readings, audio, and video selections for your courses with this customized online reader. COURSEREADER: WESTERN CIVILIZATION helps you to stay organized and facilitates convenient access to course material, no matter where you are.

One million+ students, one billion answers
In just 10 years, more than one billion answers have been submitted through Aplia, the premier online assignment solution. Millions of students use Aplia to better prepare for class and for their exams. Join them today!
Know what’s important
Aplia assignments mean “no surprises”—with an at-a-glance view of current assignments organized by due date, you always know what’s due, and when.
Discover real-world relevance
Aplia ties your lessons into real-world applications so you get a bigger, better picture of how you’ll use your education in your future workplace.
Master the content
Automatic grading and immediate step-by-step feedback helps you master content the right way the first time.
Student Testimonial:
“I was very engaged; the content in Aplia is useful. The study tools and materials in Aplia most definitely help me feel more prepared. I understood more than I would have otherwise.”
- Tia
Student, Glendale Community College
CTA: Ask your instructor about Aplia for this course.
www.cengage.com/aplia

Meet the Author

Author Bio

Jackson J. Spielvogel

Jackson J. Spielvogel is Associate Professor Emeritus of History at The Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, where he specialized in Reformation history under Harold J. Grimm. His articles and reviews have appeared in journals such as Moreana, Journal of General Education, Catholic Historical Review, Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, and American Historical Review. He also has contributed chapters or articles to THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE: A DICTIONARY HANDBOOK, the SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER ANNUAL OF HOLOCAUST STUDIES, and UTOPIAN STUDIES. His work has been supported by fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation and the Foundation for Reformation Research. At Penn State, he helped inaugurate the Western Civilization course, as well as a popular course on Nazi Germany. His book HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY was published in 1987 (7th Edition, 2014). He is the author of WESTERN CIVILIZATION, first published in 1991 (10th Edition, 2017), and the coauthor (with William Duiker) of WORLD HISTORY, first published in 1994 (8th Edition, 2016). Professor Spielvogel has won five major university-wide teaching awards. During the year 1988−1989, he held the Penn State Teaching Fellowship, the university's most prestigious teaching award. In 1996, he won the Dean Arthur Ray Warnock Award for Outstanding Faculty member, and in 2000 received the Schreyer Honors College Excellence in Teaching Award.

Jackson J. Spielvogel is Associate Professor Emeritus of History at The Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, where he specialized in Reformation history under Harold J. Grimm. His articles and reviews have appeared in journals such as Moreana, Journal of General Education, Catholic Historical Review, Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, and American Historical Review. He also has contributed chapters or articles to THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE: A DICTIONARY HANDBOOK, the SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER ANNUAL OF HOLOCAUST STUDIES, and UTOPIAN STUDIES. His work has been supported by fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation and the Foundation for Reformation Research. At Penn State, he helped inaugurate the Western Civilization course, as well as a popular course on Nazi Germany. His book HITLER AND NAZI GERMANY was published in 1987 (7th Edition, 2014). He is the author of WESTERN CIVILIZATION, first published in 1991 (10th Edition, 2017), and the coauthor (with William Duiker) of WORLD HISTORY, first published in 1994 (8th Edition, 2016). Professor Spielvogel has won five major university-wide teaching awards. During the year 1988−1989, he held the Penn State Teaching Fellowship, the university's most prestigious teaching award. In 1996, he won the Dean Arthur Ray Warnock Award for Outstanding Faculty member, and in 2000 received the Schreyer Honors College Excellence in Teaching Award.